Pointer sighting device



Nov. 28, 1933.4 E. MULLER Er Al. 1,936,967

POINTER SIGHTING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet l l /n new ard* l e sheets-sheet 2 Inl/n fors, m

Nov. 28, 1933.

E. MULLER; Er Al.

POINTER sIGHTING DEVICE Filed April 5. 1927.

NOV. 28, 1933. E, MULLER Er AL 1,936,967

POINTER SIGHTING DEVICE El I l A Mem ' Nov. 28, 1933. E. MULLER ET AL 1,936,997

POINTER S IGHTING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 28, 1933. E. MULLER Er Al.

POINTER SIGHTING DEVICE Filed April 5. 19'27 s sheets-sheet 5 I nn fors.

Nv.2s,1933. E, MULLER EAL 1,936,967

POINTER SIGHTING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1927 e sheets-sheet 6 Patented Nav. 28, 1933 POINTER SIGHTENG DEVICE Emil Mller,

Scheveningen,

and Leopold Schmidt, The Hague, Netherlands, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Edgar William Brandt, Paris, France Application April 5, 1927, serial No.- 181,200,

and in Germany October 6, 1926 6 Claims.

This invention relates to pointer sighting apparatus which may be used for guns adapted to swing about the usual training axis and an elevation or trunnion axis, as well as for guns in which the gun barrel is adapted to swing about a third axis perpendicular to and intersecting the elevation or trunnion axis.

The main object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this character'in which the mere 13 act of elevating the gun to bring an indicator controlled thereby into registry with anotherindicator controlled by adjustments of the sight in elevation causes deflection of a pointer laterally of the gun barrel to indicate the necessary 15 lateral adjustment of the gun' barrel to correct for trunnion tilt, drift, displacement of .target relative to the gun and other well known deflection corrections.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the detailed description proceeds.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is an explanatory perspective diagram illustrating the general layout of the element of the gun and of parallelogram linkages controlled by the setting ofthe sight and corresponding setting of the gun to eiect the deflection indicating movements of a pointer relative to an indicator xed to the gun barrel.

. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe sighting apparatus asapplled to a gun, the supporting and adjusting mechanism for the sight proper being shown in central vertical section and the gun being shown in horizontal position.

Fig. 2a is a side elevation of the sighting apparatus as applied to a gun, the several parts of the sighting mechanism being shown in the positions assumed after adjustment of the gun in f elevation.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the telescope and parts movable bodily therewith in elevation. Y Fig. 4 is a plan View of the sighting apparatus, with the-sight adjusting mechanism shown in 4,5 central horizontal section, part of a stop adjusting mechanism carried by a sight controlled pointer being broken away and shown in horizontal section.

Fig. 4a is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 but drawn to a larger scale than Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary diagrammatic end elevation of the sight adjusting mechanism illustrating a exible shaft and differential gear for adjusting the before mentioned stop.

form of a pointer operating linkage used with the sighting mechanism disclosed herein when applied to guns rotatable about train and elevation axes only.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentaryv plan of the linkage shown in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 1 there is diagrammatically illustrated a base Bs, which may be considered as a gun platform or deck, on which the gun carriage Ca is mounted to rotate about the train axis yy.

Standards A1 and A2 extend perpendicularly upward from said carriage Ca and are provided with the usual trunnion bearings for mounting the sleeve SZ rotatably about the elevation axis :r-- perpendicular to and intersecting the train axis :1J-y.

The gun cradle Cr is mounted by suitable trunnions to pivot in the sleeve Sl about the axis y-y', which for convenience will be referred to hereafter as the pivotaxis. For convenience of description, the axis -x and y-y shall hereafter be referred to as the elevation axis and train axis, respectively.

A pointer B2 is pivoted on the sleeve Sito swing about the y'-y axis, and is provided with an indicator M2 adapted to cooperate with an index B3 xed on the gun G and carrying an indicator M3 to indicate when the gun is properly laid to correct for lateral drift of the projectile, trunnion tilt, target velocity, etc.

The pointer B2 is swung relative to B3 by a system of parallelogram linkages controlled by the movements of the gun G in its adjustments to make an indicator of one said linkages register with an index controlled as to its movements by the settings of the sight for elevation.

This system comprises a link B1 iixedly secured to the trunnion 2 and held constantly parallel to a link B by means of a connecting link b1 pivotally connected at its opposite ends to pivots 3 and 4 extending laterally from link B and B1' respectively and parallel to the trunnion axis z-. The lower end of the linkl B is pivoted on a shaft 1 parallel to trunnion axis :t-rc and journaled in a bearing bracket A fixed to and extending rearwardly from the standard A1.

The distance between the axis of the shaft C1 and the axis of pivot 3 is equal to that between the axis of the trunnion 2 and pivot 4, and the distance between the axis of pivots 3 and 4 is equal to that between the axis of pivots C1 and 2, so that the link B' is always maintained parallel to the link B1 throughout -all movements of the gun G about its elevation axis :v -r.

The links B and Bl are bent over at their upper ends above the pivots 3 and 4, respectively, (see Fig. 3), and pivots 5 and 6 extend up from these upper ends to mount the links b2 and b3 for swinging movement perpendicularly to the links B and B1 respectively. The link b3 forms one arm of a bell crank lever, the other arm D33 of which is'connected pivotally at its end to a link h6 pivoted to the pointer B2 intermediate its ends. (Fig. 4.) f

The outer. ends of the links b2 and b3 are pivotally connected to each other by ball and socket universal pivots '7 and 8, (see Fig. 3), at the opposite ends of a link b4, and the end of link b2 extends beyond the ball 7 formed thereon to i'orm stop b22, (Fig. 3), adapted to be held in yielding contact, by a tension spring b5, against a stop plate C3, (Fig. 3), adjustably mounted on the upper end of a sight controlled pointer C. The tension spring b5 has its opposite ends suitably secured to links bl and bfi so as to vpull the link b4 toward the link bl and -thereby hold the stop 2122 yieldingly against the stop plate C3.

The distance between the pivot axes 6 and 9, (Fig. 4), is equal to that between the pivot axes 11 and 10; and the distances between pivot axes 6 and 11 is equal to that between the axes 9 and 10, so that the pointer B2 moves in parallelism with the arm b33 of the bell crank lever.-

The sight controlled pointer arm C is rotatable about the pivot axis l and carries at its upper end the stop plate c3, (Fig. 3), in the path of movement of the stopf. D22, the plate c3 being adjustable for a purpose to be later described.

This sight controlled pointer arm has its upper end provided with an index M (Fig. e) adapted to cooperate with an indicator M1 fixed on the downturned end of a stirrup St which ispinned at its other end to the top of pivot 5 and extends over the link b2 and directly over the sight controlled pointer arm C. v

The sight-controlled pointer C is first set by mechanism hereinafter described according to the desired elevation of the gun G. Then the gun G is elevated by elevating gear, (described later), until the indicator Mi on the pointer stirrup St resistors with the index M. When this occurs, the contact of stop b22 with the stop plate c3 causes the link b4 to rotate bell crank arm b33 and link bd, (see Fig. 4), to move the pointer B2 in order to indicate the lateral ad justment of the gun G about its pivot axis :1fy necessary to correct the laying of the gun for drift, trunnion tilt, etc'. E

The disclosure, so far, merely gives a general idea of the functions and operation oi' the deflection correcting linkages, the word deectiom' being used as a broad term to include all llateral corrections such as those necessary to compensate for trunnlon tilt velocity and displacement of the target, etc.` The sight adjusting mechanism will now be described in detail.

In Fig. 2 the mainl supporting and adjusting elements of the gun G are shown; the sight adjusting mechanism and pointer control linkages are shown in full lines and with their parts in the position relative to the gun occupied by them when the gun is horizontal.V Fig. 2c shows the same parts moved relatively to each other by adjustment of the sight T, and by the corresponding elevation of the gun.

The carriage Ca, pivoted for rotation about the training axis y-y by suitable gearing has the standards A1 extending upwardly therefrom and provided with bearings to receive rotatably the trunnions 2, (only one of which is shown), extending laterally from the sleeve Sl in which the cradle Cr is mounted to swing about axis y-y by means of the pivots p and p1. The sleeve SZ has a gun elevating rack H suitably fixed thereto; and an elevating gear Hl meshes with this rack to effect rotation of the sleeve Sl, and the gun G with it,^about the trunnion axis .ic-. To rotate the gun laterally of the sleeve Sl, the gun cradle Cr has bracket Brr 'iixed thereto and has its lower end provided with a gear W meshing with a worm S rotatably mounted in an arm W1 extending from the lower end of the sleeve SZ. v

The specific details of the gun adusting parts shown and just described form no part oi the present invention; but are herein described in order to make clear the operation of the sighting apparatus forming the real invention and connected thereto.

The sight adjusting mechanism is supported by a bracket A, (Figs. 2, 2a and d), :xed to the standard A1 and is provided at its free end with a bearing A2 in which a holiow shaft al is journaled. A segmental worm gear e2 is keyed to the hollow shaft al, and a worm a22 fixed to a shaft :z3-having a hand wheel D1Y at the end thereof which operates, lthrough gear a2, to rotate the hollow shaft a1 in its bearing. The segment gear is enclosed by a cover Co having a side wall Cs rotatable on the hub of the segment gear a2.

The link B is xed to the wall Cs and there fore rotates freely about the axis l o the sight shaft Cl which is journaled in the hollow shaft il() al. `"this link B and the other links between it and the pointer B2 are identified by the reference characters applied 'lto the corresponding links in Fig. l, and is obviously designed to be rotated about the axis l oil the sight shaft C1 by ll5 the links B1 and b1 when the gun is rotated about its trunnion axis r-sr.

A ring, (see Fig. 3), formed in two halves has one half D fixed to the hollow shaft al and has itsother half D2 apertured to form a bearing 120 for the outer end of the sight shaft Ci. A nut Dscrews onto the reduced end D4 of shaft Cl cooperates with the nut D5 at the other end of shaft C1 tolock the two halves D and D2 'together and hold them assembled on the shaft Cl L25 and hollow shaft al. The shaft Cl has the sight controlled pointer C pinned thereto and interposed between the end of the bearing A2 and the nut D5.

The hollow shaft ai has a segment gear ad l() depending from the end thereof, (Figs. 2 and 3), with its teeth in mesh with a small segment gear a5 projecting laterally from the side oi a larger segment gear e7 which is pivoted to swing about a bolt e'Z' which holds the lower ends of the 135. two halves of the ring. gear together, with the hub e777 -of gear e7 rotatable between said ends.

The shaft C1 where it projects from the inner end of hollow shaft al, (see Fig. 4a), is crossshaped and is bored perpendicularly to its axis 140 Cl to receive concentrically bored anged bearing members 12 and 13 in which a shaft el,

having a worm ell centrally secured thereto. is

journaled.

The worm ell meshes with the segment gear e? and also with the gear E", which is xed to or formed integral with a tangent elevation member E on which the telescope standard T is mounted to rock about the pivot axis e10 normal to the shaft c1, (see rig. 3). The member E 150 has its lower part formed as a comparatively wide ring R, (Figs. 2 and 3) which seats rotatably in an annular recess Re, formed in the two halves d3 of a two part bearing member which seats on and straddles the upper parts of the ring members D and D1.

The upper edge of the ring D'-D2 is provided with worm teeth t, and the bearing member d3 has a shaft d4 journaled therein and provided centrally with a worm tw meshing with the teeth t in order to rotate the sighting telescope standard T bodily about the axis Z-Z (see F.' g. 2) to compensate for trunnion tilt.

The two halves d3 of the bearing member are held together by means of the nut 14 at one end of the shaft d4 and a hollow cap 15 pinned to said shaft d4, the nut being screwed up to draw the two halves d3 together and against the end of said cap. A handle d5 is pinned to the other end of shaft d4 to effect rotation thereof as desired.

It will be apparent from Fig. 3 that rotation of the shaft da will move the whole telescope supporting mechanism about the axis of the shaft e1; and the cross bore of the shaft C1 is provided with a slot 15' wide enough to permit rotation of the gear E" about the axis of the worm e11 as well as longitudinally thereof. The slot 16 in the lower half of the cross part of shaft C1 need only be wide enough to receive the gear e7 since this gear e7 does not rotate around the axis of the worm ell.

The opposite sides of the periphery of the ring D are rabbeted to receive the ends of two calottelshaped covers d1 and. d2, (see Fig. 2) and the worm gear shaft e1 extends through bearings 17 and 18 formed therein. A cap e8 is pinned to one end of the shaft e1 and is adapted to rotate and el. The cap e9 is screw-threaded onto the cylindrical extension 22 projecting from the cover d2; and is adapted by rotation to move the shaft e1 axially in its bearings to cause the worm ell to operate as a rack on the gears e7 and E.

The two covers d1 and d2 are held ln the rabbets of the rin'gs D and D2 by means of the compression spring 23 which surrounds the shaft e1 in the hollow extension 19, and abuts against the inner end of cap e8 and a spring washer 2e surrounding shaft e1 at the bottom of the extension 19. The upper ends of the two covers d1 and d2 are flattened to form a seat for the bearing member d3 (Fig. 2a). The covers, of course, rotate in the rabbets on rings D and D2 with the bearing member D3 and the sight standard T whenever the shaft d4 is turned to adjust the sight standard about the axis of the shaft el, which is al ways parallel to the axis of the gun barrel.

From the disclosure, so far, it will be obvious (see Figs. 2 and 3) that rotation of the worm ell by the cap e8 will cause rotation of the gears E" and e7 in opposite directions. The rotation of gear E causes the sight standard T to tilt downwardly about the axis of shaft d4 toward the trunnion axis; but the gear e7, rotating in the opposite direction, causes the gear a5 to rotate the hollow shaft a1 in the opposite direction and this rotates the whole mechanism in the covers d and d2 bodily in the opposite direction to prevent downward tilt of the sight and keep it aimed on the target, (so far as elevation of the sight is co'ncerned). Since the shaft e1 extends through the cross bore of the shaft C1, (Fig. 2), it is obvious that the shaft C1 will be tilted through the angle of elevation from the horizontal and will be parallel to the bore axis of the gun when the latter is elevated,l (see Fig. 2a) Obviously, too, the sight pointer C, with the adjustable stop plate C3 will be tilted back through the same angle of elevation in position to contact with the stop b22 when the gun is elevated by operating the elevating rack H by gear H1. l

Exactly the same movement of the several parts is effected when the cap e9 is operated, and the worm ell actsas a rack on the gears E" and e7: This cap e9 may be used to give an elevation correction in addition to that already set up bythe cap e8. The cap e9 is provided with a scale M4I for indicating such correction elevation against an index.

Two scale disks d6 aond d66 are rotatably mounted on the worm shaft e1 to rotate relativev to indicating edges 25 and 26 respectively of sight on the other disk d66 are designed for use against aerial targets. 1

The disk d6 is rotated relative to the cover d2 by a spur gear e2 keyed on shaft e1 and meshing with a gear e3 rotatable o'n one end 29 of a shaft 30 which is journaled in two bearing plates 31 and 3 2 A(see Fig. 4a) vwhich are pivoted by bosses 33 and 34 on the lateral extension 35 and 36 respectively of the shaft C1.

A gear e4 rotated by gear e3 meshes with a gear e5 rotatably mounted on a stub shaft c55, fixed to the bearing plate 32 and this gear e5 meshes with the internal gear teeth 37 on the inner edge of the disk d6 and rotates the disk d6 relative to the cover against the resistance of the coil spring fh, one end of which is secured by pin 38 to the disk d6 while the other end is secured by the pin 39 to the cover d2.

The other disk d66 is rotated by gearing similar to that just described for the rotation of disk d6. and the corresponding gears are similarly numbered. The disk d66 nas one end of the coil y spring fv connected thereto by a pin 40 while the other end is connected to the cover d1 by a pin 4l.

The coil springs act in opposite directions. through the gearing, on the shaft e1. and are of such strength that the friction of the gearing alone is sufficient to prevent rotation of the shaft in one direction or the other by the action ofthe springs alone. Even in the most unfavorable case, the differences between the forces of the two springs tending to turn the shaft el in one direction or the other is less than the frictional resistance on the worm gearing and the action of the springs is therefore not capable of turning the shaft e1. In the case of the average angle of elevation the turning moments from the forces of the two springs are about equal, and because of their opposite directions of rotation, are neutralized so far as turning the worm shaft el is concerned.

The shaft C1 is provided with an arcuate slot 42 (see Figs. 3 and 4a) to permit the planetary swinging of the shaft 30 along with the disks d6 and d66.-

As previously described rotation of the shaft d4 (Fig. 3) rotates the sight standard T about the axis of shaft e1 to compensate for the inclination of the gun trunnions to the horizontal. The standard T may also be displaced from the vertical Yil() a small screw threaded shaft ell to adjust to correct for lateral deviation or drift of the projectile.

To effect this adjustment,A the tangent scale member E is provided with a shaft el@ on which the telescope carrier El is mounted to rock. The rocking adjustment is effected by the rotationt of he wedge nut 43o thereon against the inclined surface 43 on member E. A compression spring cl2 on theopposite side of rock shaft elfi holds the nut 43a constantly against the inclined surface 43 of the member E.

To compensate for the displacement of the target relative to the gun during the time of night of the shell, the telescope turntable E2 is rotatably and detachably mounted by a bayonet joint connection (not shown), in the upper end of the carrier El and a worm eli (see Fig. 2), engages the worm gear 44 on the lower edge of the turntable E2 to rotate the latter.

The rotation of the shaft of the worm gear e14 (see Fig. 5) is transmitted by a flexible shaft C7 to a worm (not shown) in the worm casing C4 and thereby imparts the rotation of the worm eli to the Worm gear ring C5 for rotating the worm shaft C2 on which a worm C22 (see Fig. e) is fixed to mesh with Worm teeth 45 on an arcuate slide member 45a mounted to slide in correspond ingly curved grooves ed in an enlargement 47 at the top of the sight shaft C. The stop plate C3 projects laterally from this member d5 into the path of the stop i722 extending from the link b2.

From the foregoing description it is believed that the operation of the several parts of the invention will be obvious to persons skilled in the art and need not be detailed again. lt will be sumcient to state that when the gun is elevated by the gearing H and H1. until the pointer lid coincides with the pointer M2 on the sight controlled arm C. the stop plate C3 acting on stop D22 will cause the linkage to swing the pointer B2i to one side or the other of the index B2 on the gun cradle.

Proper setting of the gun in train thereafter merely. requires operation of the gear S to swing the gun about its pivot axis y--g' until the index B3 registers `with the pointer B2.

When using the pointer sighting device with guns capable of swinging about two axes, the horizontal parallelogram system of arms and levers -ilm-lD-ll which adiusts the lateral pointer B2 is of course omitted and the bell crank lever b3 is then constructed so as to act as a pointer as shown in Figs. 6 and 'l' and when following the target with the line of sight by turning the handwheel of the slewing mechanimi, the lever arm B1 constructed so as to form a counterpointer is always held so that the marks M-M are covered.

The laying principles of the invention and the transmission of the laying elements can be adopted for all laying methods and consequently the sighting device may be used for all types of guns.

We claim:

1. A gun carriage adapted to be rotated about a train axis, a cradle mounted in said carriage to rotate about an elevation axis perpendicular to said train axis, a gun mounted in said cradle to rotate with said elevation axis and about a third axis perpendicular to said, elevation axis and having an index thereon, an indicator coacting with said index' and rotatable on said cradle about said third axis, a sight arm mounted on said carriageto rotate incase? about an axis parallel to said elevation axis, an arm fixed to the gun trunnion and extending radially therefrom, a link pivotally connecting from said elevation and sight arms axes, and parallel linkage mechanism connected to the free ends of said arms `to rotate said indicatorv relative to said index.

2. A gun carriage rotatable about a train axis. a cradle rotatable in said carriage about an elevation axis perpendicular to said train axis, a gun rotatable in said cradle about a third axis perpendicular to said elevation axis and having an index thereon, an indicator coacting with said index and rotatable on said cradle about said third axis, a support fixed to said gun carriage, a shaft rotatable in said support about an axis parallel to said elevation axis, and sighting apparatus and linkages associated there- 'vfvith to rotate said indicator.

3. A gun carriage, a cradle rotatable on said carriage about a gun elevation axis, a gun sleeve rotatable in said cradle about an axis perpendicular to the elevation axis,an index fixed to said sleeve, an indicator coacting with said index and rotatable on said cradle about the second named axis, a support fixed to said carriage, a hollow shaft rotatable on said support, an arm fixed to a trunnion. of said cradle and extending radially therefrom, a pointer arm ro=` tatably mounted on said hollow shaft, a' link pivotally connecting said arms to maintain the pointer arm in constant parallelism with the trunnlon arm, sighting scale mechanism rotata bly mounted on said hollow shaft and including a second pointer shaft rotatable in said hol- ,said arms at pivot axes equi-clistantly spaced' low shaft, a sight pointer fixed radially to the end of said pointer shaft and having a stop adjustable on the free end thereof, and parallel linkage mechanism pivotally connected to said indicator and to said arms and operable by engagement with lsaid stop to move said indicator relative to said index.

fi. A gun carriage adapted to be rotated about a train axis, a cradle mounted in said carriage to rotate about an elevation axis perpendicular to said train axis, a gun mounted in said cradle to rotate with said elevation axis and about a third axis perpendicular to said elevation axis and having an index thereon, an indicatorfcoacting with said index and rotatable on said cradle about said third axis. an arm fixed to and extending radially from the gun trunnio a pointer arm. mounted on said carriage to rotate about an axis parallel to said trunnion, a link connecting said arms to maintain the pointer arm parallel to'the rst named arm, a rod pivoted to the free end of saidI pointer arm to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the last named axis, a stop mounted to rotate about the axis of said pointer arm and adjustable in the path of movement of the free end of saidv rod, and a linkage pivotally connected to said indicator and rod and to the free end of the first named arm and operable by contact with said stop to move said indicator relative to said index.

6. A gun carriage. a gun rotated thereon about an elevation axis, a support fixed to said carriage, a hollow shaft parallel to said axis and rotatable on said support, an indicator casing rotatable about the axis of said shaft, a sight rotatable on said casing about an axis parallel to said shaft and about an axis perpendicular thereto, a second shaft rotatable in said hollow shaft, a worm Journaled in said second shaft and said casing to rotate about the last named axis, a pointer radially ixed to said second shaft, gearing in said casing operated by said worm to rotate the casing on said shaft and the sight on said casing in opposite directions, an indicator rotatable on said hollow shaft, and means connecting the gun to said indicator to move the latter relative to the free end oi' said pointer, the gun bore being parallel to the axis of said worm when the indicator contacts with said pointer.

6. A gun carriage, a cradle mounted on said carriage to rotate about a gun elevation axis, a

support fixed to said carriage, a sight rotatable on said support about axes perpendicular to each other, an elevation pointer movable on said support, a drift indicator pivoted on said cradle, means for simultaneously rotating said sight and elevation pointer in opposite directions, a pointer indicator rotatable relative to said pointer, and means connecting said indicators to each other and operable by elevation of the gun to rotate said pointer indicator to contact with said pointer and by such contact to operate said dritt indicator.

EMIL MLLER. LEOPOLD SCHMIDT. 

